Each Apache release must contain a
source package. This package may not contain compiled components (such as
"jar" files) because compiled components are not open source, even if they
were built from open source.

A list of possible additional items is
maintained on the ReleaseChecklist wiki page.

2013 Alternate Release Procedure

This section explains an alternate release procedure established in December 2013, as documented in the Incubator's incubation policy page. It is
available only to selected podlings.

Once a release candidate is ready, the Release Manager creates a Release
Manifest as a plain text file at http://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/incubator/public/trunk/votes/$PODLING and fills in
all initial fields:

A [VOTE] thread is started on the podling's dev list in accordance with Incubator policy on releases. The
email kicking off the [VOTE] contains a link URL for the Manifest. While the [VOTE] is in progress, reviewers update
the Manifest accordingly, signing each item with their Apache ID to indicate that they have reviewed it and found it OK.
Comments are optional.

Reviewers don't need to look at all items; as long as there's sufficient coverage of each item the release can go out.
To complete the Manifest, it must be approved by a Mentor:

Approved by Mentor: Alan Turing (aturing)

If the dev list [VOTE] passes, a [VOTE] on general@incubator is called, again
in accordance with Incubator release policy and again referencing the
Manifest URL.

Once the voting process concludes -- regardless of success or failure -- the Release Manager archives the Manifest
permanently by moving it from votes/$PODLING/ to votes/$PODLING/archive/.

Release Manifest Template

Podlings typically start from the Incubator's default Release Manifest template,
which contains a checklist of review items. Optionally, a custom
template may be created by augmenting the default Manifest template with additional review items.